Brothers at arms serve together in Marines

High school classmates and brothers-in-law recently returned from Afghanistan.

High school classmates and brothers-in-law recently returned from Afghanistan.

February 17, 2006|JUDY BRADFORD Tribune Correspondent

LAPAZ They grew up within five minutes of each other, went to LaVille High School together and then joined the Marines together. Then they shipped out to Afghanistan -- together. Chad Urban and Aaron Marsh recently returned to Michiana -- together -- to spend a few weeks with their wives and families. It's the first time they've been back since shipping out to Afghanistan last June. Also brothers-in-law (Chad is married to Aaron's sister, Andrea), the young corporals boosted each other's morale in combat operations as well as humanitarian efforts in eastern Afghanistan, along the Pakistani border. "It's nice having someone from back home with you, to talk about home and just say, 'Remember when this or that happened?' " said Urban, 24. Marsh, 25, said he looked to Urban for news from home, and also appreciated his buddy when it came time to climb mountains in the Middle East. "It helps you to keep going when someone you know says 'It's just a little farther, we're almost there.' " In August, the two were part of Operation Whalers, an offensive operation in the Konar Province that disrupted Taliban forces in the area and cleared the way for Afghans to elect a National Assembly. "We went in to root out the militants," Urban said. "This was Taliban country, and it was pretty rough. "In a matter of two days, we climbed 8,000 feet over mountains. There are no roads, no Humvees. It's a hostile area where pilots didn't want to go, since one helicopter had already been shot down." Urban, a mortar man, had his picture taken by a Marine photographer during one of the attacks. It was distributed worldwide and accompanied stories about Operation Whalers. In the photo, he's kneeling and holding down support legs for an 81-millimeter mortar system firing an explosive round. The photo was distributed by the Associated Press and appeared in U.S. newspapers, including The Tribune. Marsh, a rifleman, was in the same firefight. Both men joined the Marine Corps under its Buddy Program, which pairs friends through boot camp and combat training if they choose the same job field. Urban and Marsh both were sent to San Diego for basic training, but were separated later because one had chosen mortar school, the other rifle school. After completion of their training in the spring of 2003, both were stationed in Hawaii at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base. Their battalion was deployed first on an aircraft carrier to Japan and other locations in the Far East. The battalion's second deployment, in June 2005, was to Afghanistan. In addition to combat operations, the men were sent on "hearts and minds" missions to find out what Afghan villagers needed; often, they needed medical care. "It's a real eye-opener," said Urban. "They're still riding horses and living in stone houses, like biblical times. It was our job to help them stand on their own feet and create an atmosphere to discourage terrorists -- so if terrorists try to set up camp, like they did before 9/11, they (the villagers) would be able to take care of it themselves." Marsh said the Marines were greeted warmly by the villagers. "People there have such big smiles, and they would smile really big when we'd drive through the villages. They liked having us there to keep the terrorists out." As part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, members of the Afghanistan National Army also job-shadowed the Marines to see how they operated. The two 1999 LaVille graduates will complete their tour of active duty on Jan. 13, 2007. Urban has considered re-enlisting but says "it's up in the air right now." He and Andrea still have an apartment near the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base in Hawaii. (Andrea is a recent graduate of Ball State University, and a 2002 graduate of LaVille). Marsh wants to become a history teacher and plans to enroll at Purdue University as an undergraduate. His wife, Nikki, will graduate from Butler University in May and will be attending graduate school at Purdue. (Nikki is a 2003 graduate of LaVille.)